As the AI wave continues to drive up the demand for high-performance computing, advanced manufacturing process capacity has become a battleground for tech giants. (According to DigiTimes)Get the messageNVIDIA and Apple are fiercely competing for TSMC's upcoming A16 and A14 ampere-level process capacity. Renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also suggested that Apple intends to diversify its supply chain risks and is rumored to be collaborating with Intel on the 18AP process, which will be used for manufacturing entry-level M-series processors.
TSMC faces tight capacity, with NVIDIA and Apple vying for advanced process capacity.
Due to the recent strong demand for AI computing power, TSMC is continuously expanding its advanced process capacity, mainly to meet the foundry production needs of long-term cooperative customers such as Apple and NVIDIA. Currently, TSMC is not only accelerating the increase of 3nm capacity at its Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) wafer fab, but has also begun planning for more advanced angstrom-level nodes, including the A16 and A14 processes.
This also means that Apple, as TSMC's largest customer, will face unprecedented challenges from NVIDIA when vying for the first production capacity of the most advanced manufacturing processes. In addition to facing competition from NVIDIA for advanced manufacturing process resources, other long-term TSMC customers, including AMD and MediaTek, will also be vying for TSMC's advanced process orders.
Ming-Chi Kuo: Intel 18APs may become Apple's "second supplier" option.
Just as TSMC's production capacity was in short supply, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo proposed...Another possibilityHe claimed that Intel's foundry service, Intel Foundry, would have the opportunity to win over Apple with its 18AP process technology.
Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that if the collaboration goes through, Intel could begin manufacturing chips for Apple as early as 2027. However, this does not mean that Apple will shift all its manufacturing orders to TSMC. Currently, the scope of the Intel manufacturing collaboration may be limited to entry-level M-series processors, which are typically used in product lines such as iPads and MacBook Airs where the requirements for extreme performance and power consumption are relatively low.
A win-win situation: Intel gains endorsement, Apple gains more bargaining power.
This potential collaboration is of considerable strategic significance to both parties.
For Intel, securing Apple, the world's most demanding chip customer, would undoubtedly provide the strongest endorsement for its transformed wafer foundry technology and yield rates, helping it build credibility in the foundry market and challenge TSMC's dominant position.
For Apple, outsourcing the manufacturing of its entry-level processor chips to Intel not only effectively mitigates geopolitical and single-supplier risks, but more importantly, it gives it leverage in negotiating with TSMC. Simultaneously, this allows Apple to concentrate TSMC's valuable advanced process capacity (such as the A16) on the more profitable and performance-demanding iPhone Pro series, as well as the higher-end M-series processors.
